Week in Review

Sixty-four foreign companies have poured US$2.6 billion (Bt93.29 billion) into Myanmar in the first four months of the 2015-16 fiscal year, according to the Directorate of Foreign Investment and Company Administration. The companies represent 16 countries.
Myanmar expects to draw foreign direct investment worth $6 billion in this fiscal year, which will end next March.

Italian-Thai in partnership 
Italian-Thai Development, Shell and LNG Plus International signed a deal to jointly develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving and regasification terminal in Dawei Special Economic Zone.
Under the agreement, Shell will provide technical expertise on the development of the LNG terminal. It will also have access to terminal capacity and supply LNG to customers in the special economic zone. Shell also looks forward to supplying gas to other potential areas in Myanmar.

Students on hunger strike 
Students from Yadanabon University, now in prison, staged a hunger strike following the Amarapura Township judge’s refusal to their bail appeal. 
The students, among those charged for protest against the education bill, wanted to get out of jail to sit their exams. They were charged under Section 505(b), which contained no provision for bail, the judge said.

Assisting tourism boom
The Ministry of Hotels and Tourism is working with Luxembourg to invest US$5.7 million (Bt204.52 million) in human resource development for the tourism industry. A delegation from Luxembourg conducted field trips in Bagan, Yangon and Nay Pyi Taw, visiting private companies and universities.
After investments of $2 billion, the tourism industry now employs more than 800,000 people and expects 5 million visitors this year.

Airport launch delayed 
The Hanthawaddy International Airport’s launch date has been delayed from 2018 to 2022 as talks on an overseas loan are still ongoing, according to state-owned media Global New Light of Myanmar. Designed as the fourth international airport, Hanthawaddy, 80 km from Yangon, is aimed at easing traffic congestion at Yangon International Airport. Its capacity is 12 million passengers a year. 
Myanmar plans to finance 49 per cent of the US$1.45 billion (Bt52.03 billion) investment with official development assistance from the Japanese government. The rest will be financed by private loans and a Japan-Singapore consortium, called called Yongnam-CAPE-JGCC, which won the construction bid last year.

Upgrade in forest law urged 
Tin Aye, the former director of Myanmar’s Forestry Department, urged an upgrade in the Vacant, Fallow and Virgin Lands Management Law to save Myanmar’s forests.
At a seminar, he said the government can grant land for any purpose under the existing law.

Complaint against Ooredoo
A customer of Ooredoo Myanmar cried foul after her personal information was allegedly leaked.
The unidentified victim said she was threatened by a male, with whom she had personal conflicts. The man threatened her with information that only the telecom company could have known. She said the man knew her call history and related data. 
She reported the case to Ooredoo on July 7. Three weeks later, she was informed that seven of the company’s staff were fired for breaking the rules. The company denied her request for damage compensation. She plans to sue the company. 
Early August, a customer-relations management employee in Mandalay was sued for stealing data.

Firms fined for tax breach
More than 110 firms, including KFC and Lotteria, were fined for not affixing revenue stamps to their business vouchers, according to the Internal Revenue Department.
It said KFC has been fined three times. 
Since April 1, all eateries in Myanmar must pay 5 per cent revenue tax.
Thirty two firms were fined between April 1 and June 30. Many of them were international companies. 
They were charged 200,000 kyat (Bt5,595) for the first offence, 500,000 kyat for the second, 700,000 kyat for the third and a million kyat thereafter.

EU to observe election 
The European Union (EU) and Myanmar signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to send a full election observation mission for theNovember 8 polls. 
“Election observation is an expression of the EU’s wish to support inclusive, transparent and credible elections as part of our policy to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and human rights,” said EU Ambassador to Myanmar, Roland Kobia.

Stemming the kyat fall
The Central Bank of Myanmar plans to illegalise dollar-denominated transactions, widely practised in the hotel and restaurant sectors, in a bid to curb dollar demand and kyat depreciation. 
The regulations, to be announced by the end of this year, demand all businesses in Myanmar to make all transactions in kyat. Myanmar kyat started to gain ground against US dollar on August 25. Since then, it strengthened from 1,285 kyat per dollar to 1,275 kyat as of August 28. Yet, the latest rate showed a 24.4 per cent year-to-date drop against the greenback. 
Economists have attributed the weak kyat partly to lack of actions taken against currency manipulators, hoarding of dollars among currency traders and rumours of the possible closure of banks.

Foot-and-mouth disease 
Suspected foot-and-mouth disease has been reported in Nay Pyi Taw, according to the Livestock Breeding and Veterinary Department. Farmers reported symptoms similar to the disease in 45 out of 700 cows in a village. The department is now exploring the causes of the disease. Outbreaks of foot and mouth disease are mostly reported in Sagaing, Mandalay, Magway and Ayeyawady regions. 
The World Organisation for Animal Health has been planning to implement a national-level plan to eradicate FMD in Myanmar since 2004. A plan was drafted in 2013 and is still awaiting approval.